Autopilot
by CBloom2
Summary: Another spoilery (kind of) one shot of how the stealing of the money/Taylor story may start out. That summary didn't make much sense! It's me causing more problems for the boys!


**So, three updates in three days! You can tell it's the Easter holidays. Now I'm starting to be a little scared that I'm getting slightly obsessed with the upcoming storyline, as I can't seem to get it out of my head! I must have thought of just about every which way the story could go - but the worst thing is that it'll probably not play out at all as I'd hoped! Oh well, just as well we've got fan fiction.**

**So another Ethan/Cal fic dealing with another possibility for the upcoming episodes, so possible spoilers but we don't really know coz we don't actually know what's going to happen.**

**Once again I don't own anyone that you recognise, they belong to the BBC.**

**Autopilot**

Dr Ethan Hardy was on autopilot - after the two biggest bombshells of his life so far, apart from his mother's cancer diagnosis.

Bombshell number 1 - His big brother Cal was in love! Actually proper head over heels in love as in he couldn't think about anything else other than Taylor love - complete with a ring...the whole package. He had been genuinely pleased for him, wishing him luck for his proposal.

Then came bombshell number 2 - The same big brother owned up to being the one who took the £15,000 from his bank account to fund a doctor for Taylor's charity. Cal's admission had felt like a punch in the gut. For the past couple of days, Ethan had felt like he could hardly breathe. He'd not slept or eaten properly. He was avoiding his brother like the plague - he just couldn't bear to look at him. He should've reported him to the police - it was stealing after all, but above all Cal was his brother and he had used the money to help a sick young child, wouldn't anyone do the same? Worringly though, there hadn't been any contact from Taylor for the last couple of days. Ethan took a gulp of cold coffee as he tried to cast from his mind an awful thought that had just occured to him - maybe he wasn't the only one who had been scammed!

"Ethan, Ethan!"

"Hmm?" He looked round, surprised to see Lofty staring at him earnestly.

"Are you alright? You look like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders," the curly haired nurse enquired.

"What? Oh yes, I'm fine..."

The staff room door opened and Cal strode in, faltering slightly when he saw his brother. Ethan got straight to his feet, "I must get back to work," was all he offered as he darted past the older man without acknowledging him at all.

Cal sighed deeply and glanced at Lofty, "What's going on with you two?" Lofty asked, clearly confused by the turn of events. Cal shoved his hands in his pockets and dropped his head, "Just the usual...I've stuffed things up with my brother again," he explained as he dejectedly pulled open the door leaving the young nurse alone.

How Ethan was getting through his shift without making a mistake was a mystery to him - but he was managing to keep as professional as always. He had been aware of some of the concerned glances thrown his way because he wasn't acting like himself but he refused to be drawn into any discussions about it.

In the middle of treating a young child with a high temperature, Charlie came and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Ethan, the police are here to see you."

The young doctor swallowed nervously. He gave his instructions to the nurses then slowly made his way to the staff room. He gently opened the door, surprised to see not only two police officers, but his brother sat with his head in his hands, obviously in some distress, "What's happened?" Ethan immediately felt concern for his brother's state as he took a seat next to him.

"Dr Hardy, I'm afraid we've had to deliver some upsetting news to your brother."

Ethan turned slightly towards his distressed brother, "Cal?"

The older man looked up, surprised to hear his brother's voice, but he shook his head, he couldn't speak.

"We have arrested Miss Taylor Ashby this morning..."  
"Excuse me? Arrested?" Ethan gasped.

"We've been waiting for her to resurface for a while now. It seems that she has a thing for extorting money out of people, especially doctors it seems. She uses her 'charity' as a way of conning people out of large amounts of money. But thanks to you reporting your stolen money, we were able to get her this time."

Ethan had thought that nothing else would have shocked him about this situation, but he was wrong. He looked to the police officer then to his brother who was shaking his head, muttering his denial under his breath. Ethan felt a surge of pity fo his brother at that moment, yet he still couldn't bring himself to show any sympathy just yet.

"Dr Hardy, was your money used to fund something for one of her 'charities'? If so, how could she have got hold of it?" The police officer was now staring at Cal, making Ethan nervous. The young doctor felt his head shaking. He couldn't drop his already distraught brother into more trouble, "I don't know. I suppose the amounts match up but I'm not always the most careful with my bank cards...and Taylor did spend a lot of time round at our place...I wish I could be more help," he tried to look as sincere as possible.

The police officer looked between the two me. He knew full well what had happened, but unless Ethan was willing to make a formal complaint, then his hands were tied.

He stood and reached out to shake Ethan's hand, "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but at least we've got her and she won't be able to do the same to anyone else."

With that they left, leaving the two brothers in an uncomfortable silence.

"Thanks," Ethan heard his brother mumble.

"Do you want to talk about it?" The younger man asked tentatively.

"Oh so you want to talk now!" Cal snapped angrily, "You haven't spoken to me in days and now you..." Cal jumped to his feet, earlier distress replaced by anger. He barged past a resigned looking Ethan, slamming the door behind him.

Ethan sighed deeply and sank back into the chair. He didn't blame his brother for being angry, it was a lot to take in. What was he going to do now? How could he make this right when all he wanted to do was try to knock some sense into his big brother?

Suddenly his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and saw a message from Honey asking him if he was alright.

He smiled to himself, did she know?

Immediately, he dialled her number, "Hello Honey, I hope you don't mind me calling...Oh good...How's your Gran? That is good news...Noel's been missing you...Erm actually Honey, do you have time to talk? I could really use a friend right now..."

**I wonder if one day I'll do a story where I don't make either of these two guys cry or get emotional? What do you think? I keep trying to think of something to write that's funny to give them a break, but it's all about the angst at the moment. Oh well, until next time...**


End file.
